China lockdowns

Here’s why truck manufacturers’ current order discipline won’t last

Two blue and one orange Volvo sleeper cabs on a highway

Order-taking discipline by truck manufacturers continued in June, but don’t expect it to become permanent. OEMs depend on making engines, transmissions and aftermarket parts as well as new trucks..

“No one ever got rewarded for not selling trucks,” Kenny Vieth, ACT Research president, told FreightWaves on Wednesday. “Sales have historically been a battle for market share. If I’m vertically integrated, I’m not just selling a truck. I’m selling an engine and a transmission.”

New truck builds are...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/heres-why-truck-manufacturers-current-order-discipline-wont-last

Has the peak of container shipping’s epic boom already passed?

container shipping Hapag-Lloyd

Another quarter, another earnings record for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container line operator. But the focus now is less about what happened a few months ago and more about what’s happening now with China lockdowns and consumer demand, and what’s around the corner for supply chains and ocean freight rates.  

The implied message of Hapag-Lloyd quarterly release and conference call was: The container boom peaked in the first quarter; it’s downhill from here. Spot rates are...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/has-the-peak-of-container-shippings-epic-boom-already-passed

Atlas Air profits in Q1 from supply chain snarls, long-term contracts

A big cargo jet, white with a blue tail and Atlas Air painted on the side, lifts of the runway in this sideview.

Higher yields and long-term contracts powered Atlas Air Worldwide to record first-quarter revenue of $1.04 billion and adjusted net income of $88.8 million amid mixed signs of softening in the global air cargo market. Revenue was 20% higher than a year ago and it was the third consecutive quarter for Atlas with revenue above $1 billion.

Despite uncertainty about how much the air cargo industry will be affected by sagging global trade, the Purchase, New York, cargo airline said it expects even...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/atlas-air-profits-in-q1-from-supply-chain-snarls-long-term-contracts

China lockdowns are not causing shipping chaos, say liner CEOs

China COVID lockdowns container shipping

It was predicted that China lockdowns would cause container shipping havoc. Six weeks into Shanghai lockdowns, it still hasn’t happened. Two liner CEOs — Maersk’s Soren Skou and Matson’s Matt Cox — explained why.

“The port [of Shanghai] is open and operating,” said Skou on Wednesday’s quarterly earnings call. Trucking and warehouse disruptions “are slowing things down somewhat and we are seeing an impact on our volumes out of China, but probably less than we would have expected.

“The purchase...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/china-lockdowns-not-causing-shipping-chaos-say-liner-ceos

How war, shipping boom, China lockdowns impact Panama Canal

Panama Canal shipping

What’s the single most important concentration of infrastructure keeping America supplied with goods? The Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, which handles around 40% of the country’s containerized imports. What’s the second most important? One could make a strong case for the expanded Panama Canal.

America could never have handled the historic import deluge of the past two years if Panama had not built the third set of locks, the larger “Neopanamax” locks that debuted in 2016 and brought much...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-war-shipping-boom-china-lockdowns-impact-panama-canal

Crisis or hiccup? Assessing the logistics impact of China lockdowns

A tractor pulls a container through a container shipping yard in Shanghai, where COVID restrictions are slowing trade.

A mixed bag of circumstances and time horizons are creating diverging narratives about whether shipping delays stemming from the shutdown of Shanghai and other Chinese cities are getting better or presage massive supply chain gridlock.

There is no sign that Shanghai’s lockdown is easing anytime soon. Footage on social media shows steel fences being installed on public roads and inside residential compounds to keep people from traveling to other districts and moving in neighborhoods. On Monday,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/crisis-or-hiccup-assessing-the-logistics-impact-of-china-lockdowns

Despite rising risks, shipping lines on track for another record year

container shipping lines

The year is almost a third over, and with each passing month, shipping lines look increasingly likely to pocket even more cash in 2022 than in record-trouncing 2021.  

New data and commentary released Tuesday by ocean carrier Maersk, freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel and consultancy Drewry highlight just how profitable this year is shaping up to be for ocean carriers — and how expensive it’s looking for importers.

Drewry’s baseline forecast now calls for ocean carriers as a group to earn $300...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/despite-rising-risks-container-shipping-poised-for-another-record-year

Will Long Beach’s sunny spring be followed by stormy summer?

The Port of Long Beach reported its busiest March ever and “the most active quarter on record as long-dwelling cargo continued to move out of marine terminals.”

The port moved 864,156 twenty-foot equivalent units last month, up 2.7% from the previous record set in March 2021. Imports increased 4.7% year-over-year to 427,280 TEUs, while exports declined 18.3% to 114,185 TEUs. Empty containers “jumped” 10% to 321,691 TEUs, the port said in Thursday’s announcement. 

The Port of Long Beach said March...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/will-long-beachs-sunny-spring-be-followed-by-stormy-summer